


All I Want For Christmas

by katiemorag



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, X Factor AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-10
Updated: 2013-12-10
Packaged: 2018-01-04 05:48:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1077280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katiemorag/pseuds/katiemorag
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis Tomlinson, X Factor Finalist, gets a big surprise while singing his song of choice during Christmas week which just so happens to be the final.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All I Want For Christmas

When Louis Tomlinson first entered the X Factor, the people of Britain were instantly charmed by the cheeky and boisterous then 18 year old who lit up the stage auditions as soon as he stepped on stage  therefore it was no surprise when he was consistently voted through week by week by the public.

However, the British media is known for being one of the most gossip-mongering ones in the world and made it their mission to make the new sweetheart of the music industry into a spoilt brat who slept with multiple women and led them along for his own enjoyment. The people of Britain were shocked at the stories of the youngster's constant partying and drunken antics, though a large number of them noted that all the pictures of him stumbling slightly drunkenly were from one night as his clothes were the same in every photo and complained to the papers which resulted in the largest of British rags, The Daily Mail, issuing a formal apolgy to Louis - an action hardly heard of for someone who was not an established celebrity.

Then the shit hit the proverbial fan.

The Sun had obviously rifled through his close friend's Facebook pictures and had found a picture of him age 14, straddling one of his friends and kissing them senseless. Now the action itself wouldn't have caused a major scandal had it not been for the fact that this 'friend' was very, very male. 

The bosses of the TV show were panicking as Louis was due to make them a lot of money, if his success in the early shows were anything to go by - and the majority of his fanbase were teenage girls who wanted to marry him and mothers who thought he would marry their daughters or be a good influence on their own sons. 

But again, the British public rallied in Louis' defence; people arguing on This Morning that it was the 21st century.  Especially since the law allowing gay marriage has already went through parliament and more and more celebrities were coming out the closet as the no longer feared the backlash and drop in their popularity that it would have previously brought.

The bosses were now baffled, they hadn't counted on the public taking Louis' side so quickly and had prepared for backlash, not support. They decided that it would be best to keep Louis' current  _relationship_ status under wraps just in case, which Louis agreed to but refused to sign any contract binding him to that in case he gained actual fame from the show and was forced to hide like so many artists had to in the past. 

Instead, a statement was released by Louis (approved by PR department and the bosses at the X Factor obviously) saying how he was glad he didn't have to hide his sexuality, how he was proud of who he is and how touched he was by the support he had received from the public.

It was the truth, Louis was genuinely touched by how many people he had seen on social networking sites defending him and his actions against those who slated him and sent him homophobic messages. And the day that Louis received a letter from a teenager telling him how he had struggled to come to terms with his sexuality as he had feared what his parents would say to him and that seeing their positive reactions to Louis' own outing had encouraged him to tell them and introduce them to his boyfriend and how they had taken it wonderfully and loved his boyfriend.

Louis didn't tell anyone about that letter except his partner who chuckled fondly as he shakily read it out to him over Skype.

 

It was the week of the semi-finals when Louis' first big interview arrived; X Factor had an ongoing contract with Heat Magazine that in semi-final week, all contestants did an exclusive interview which was to be their first in print.

 

To say Louis was apprehensive was an under statement, he was bloody terrified. He had no idea what they were going to ask him or how to answer the awkward questions! Sure they had received basic media training but he didn't feel prepared at all for this. 

What if the interviewer has homophobic?

What if they grilled him on his relationship status and who with?

Not that he was ashamed of it (far from it actually) but it seemed that the public now knew every single thing about him thus him wanting to keep one part of his life private even just for a little while.

 

As it turned out, he had nothing to worry about.

The interviewer was a well dressed and warm women in her early 30's who greeted each contestant with a smile as they entered the large waiting room (and Louis with a hug as he entered the smaller interviewing room).

Louis had the interviewer, Marie, wrapped round his finger in minutes - he was the only one of the contestants to remember her name, the only one to introduce himself to the photographer who was waiting patiently for the interviews to be over so his job to begin and the only one to seem genuinely interested what she was saying and asking.

"So, Louis, due to the recent events I have to ask, what made you stick to your guns and choose to come out as gay to the public? That took a lot of guts knowing the press." Marie finally asked after the same questions she had sprouted off to the other contestants about their chances in the competition and how they think they got this far and what they wanted to come of this competition - this is what the public  _actually_ wanted to know and the reason they would buy the magazine.

"I didn't really choose to, did I?" Louis joked before answering seriously, "for me, it wasn't really an option to stay "in the closet" so to speak; I've never been ashamed of who I am and I never will be. I always knew I liked boys more than girls, even at a young age so when I asked my mum about a crush I had on a boy who was a few years older than me when I was about 9 she explained what it was I was feeling. Because I knew what gay meant as I'd seen it on TV and stuff and my mum had always been really open about sexuality because to be honest, I think she knew before I did. My mum has friends who are gay and lesbian so it's never been a big deal to me or my family or been made out to be a big deal so I don't think I was subjected to the whole fear of telling your family that a lot of homosexual teenagers go through. So when it came to coming out to the public, I, personally, never considered hiding it; I know the papers ran stories of me sleeping with multiple girls and stuff but that's a different story entirely! As far as I'm concerned, me being into boys is just as relevant to my personality as liking my tea a certain way or how I can't sleep with cupboard or wardrobe doors open; it's a factor of me but it's not my entirety."

Marie sat for a few minutes, simply astounded by the sheer honesty of Louis' statement; once she had gathered herself she asked the question that everyone and their grandma was dying to know.

"So, are you single orhas someone already swept you away before anyone else had the chance?" She asked, her tone was light and cheerful but a genuine curiosity making Louis laugh loudly (and Marie see what everyone meant when they said that he lit up a room).

While he took a drink of the water provided he pondered what he should say, did he tell them the truth and how happy he was or did he lie and risk seeing the heartbreak on his partner's face on Skype after he had read the article?

It was a no brainer really; Louis lowered his water and smiled charmingly at Marie.

"I'm sorry to say someone has, Marie." He said, tipping his head down slightly to hide his blush that had erupted suddenly. 

"Really? Tell us more!" Marie jumped excitedly in her chair;  _this_ was what she called an exclusive - the first interviewer to lift the lid on Britain's Sweetheart's love life - and if that didn't get her promoted, nothing would.

"I'm not going to say much because I don't want to reveal too much too soon," Louis smiled coyly - why was he worried again? "but what I will say is that he's amazing and I love him more than anything and he makes me the happiest person I could be."

Marie thanked him profusely as their interview ended soon after and told him how cute he was when he had been describing his partner even though nothing monumentous had been revealed - she said it was easy to see how happy he was and that she was glad he had found someone. He made a mental note that if he ever made the big time he would give Marie as many interviews as possible.

 

As the finals got closer (and as Louis sailed through the semi's with the highest number of votes ever recorded in the history of X Factor) Louis found himself being ignored and sneered at by the other remaining few contestants; the ones he had gotten on best with Liam and a girl band called Young Blood - had been voted out in the semi finals leavng Louis alone with an arrogant Justin Bieber wannabe (who was his direct competition due to them being in the same age category) and a stuck up, chav version of Taylor Swift who saw herself as a popstar even though she hadn't actually won yet and therefore thought she was above everyone else.

 

Each contestant was to perform three songs (and possibly a fourth) on the night of the final, their charity single with all the contestants that had already been voted off, then their duet with a "major act" and then, in a change from the norm, the voting lines would be closed at this point and the votes counted based on their duet alone and not on their solo performances at previous years had been and then they would finally perform their Christmas song - which was the official theme of the week and then the winner would be announced and they would perform their 'winner's single'.

Louis had never been so excited or so terrified in his life - his mum had spent the best part of the day of finals trying to convince him not to make a run for it. It actually took his mum letting him hear a voicemail from his partner telling him how proud he was and how sorry he was he couldn't be there and how much he loved him - needless to say, that resulted in a few tears but convinced him to stay none the less.

Louis knew the other two were good but hearing Callum (Justin Bieber wannabe) sing with Chris Brown and Chantelle (Taylor Swift-y) sing with Katy Perry, he was seriously doubting his own abilities. 

Luckily Liam found him and pulled him into a reassuring hug before he could have a full on panic attack at the thought of his own performance.

 

Louis sat on stage waiting for the opening chords of the well known song to start, and as soon as they did the crowd erupted (the identities of the special guests had been kept under even more wraps than usual so no-one could do anything but speculate).

After the first chorus, Louis broke off in singing - as customary- to introduce his dueting partner.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr Ed Sheeran!" 

If Louis had thought the crowd were loud before, they were practically deafening now as his ginger hair glinted in the spotlights. Louis grinned even wider as he noticed the show's wardrobe department had co-erced him into a suit despite the well mannered protests he had been making a few days ago when they met properly.

The duet was a total hit. Louis high and soft voice merging perfectly with Ed's soothing and warm tones and as they reached the end of the final bridge and the guitar notes faded out; the entire place blew up, people were on their feet screaming and clapping and the judges themselves were on their feet clapping and smiling. Louis barely registered it as Ed pulled him in for a friendly hug, although they had become close in the last few days, he was still slightly star struck at the fact that Ed Sheeran was hugging him live on national telly.

"You've got this mate." He said quietly to him before he pulled away and allowed Louis to be interviewed by Dermott about the performance - it wasn't much of an interview as Louis was stumbling over his words in reaction to what Ed had said to him but thankfully he didn't come across as a total idiot because Ed stepped in and said how much of a delight he was to work with and how he looked forward to future collaborations - how Louis was still standing he didn't know.

 

He was then being ushered off stage and after saying a hurried goodbye to Ed and the promise to catch up soon, he was being rushed off to the wardrobe department to get ready for his final performance - not that being the final act in the final show of the XFactor was that big a deal  _at all._ From backstage, he could vaguely hear Callum singing White Christmas. 

 _Not to sound horrible,_ Louis thought to himself,  _but that isn't **that** good; if I was Callum I would be bloody thankful the lines have already closed. _

Callum was trying to hit the low notes that Bing Crosby had sang and his voice simply couldn't therefore his voice sounded like it was breaking - the noise gave Louis a little glimmer of hope that he might actually have a shot.

He finally escaped the hair and makeup department, his vision still clouded by a haze of hairspray that seemed to permanently stay in the room. The head stylist (and his favourite) Caroline, straightened out his shirt and double checked it was tucked into his trousers properly before giving him a swat on the bum to send him on his way to the stage. 

"Good luck!" She called as he was whisked away by a stage hand to his spot in waiting for his performance.

 

Louis had to wait for Chantelle to perform and another ad break so he listened carefully to her performance and picked it apart - the contestants had not been allowed in the studio when one of the others had been performing so they had only heard snippets of the songs they were to be singing.

However, Louis knew from his mentor/judge, Gary, that Chantelle and her mentor had pitched a fit when she had not gotten first choice of song and therefore Louis had gotten the song she had wanted; their argument was that the original singer was a female and therefore it should be sung by a female. Gary's response to them had been a polite "bugger off" as it had been their week to get first pick and was thus perfectly fair; and they had been backed up by the other two judges so they had eventually stepped down and accepted the fact that Louis was singing the song they wanted.

As he listened to Chantelle sing Last Christmas he began to worry about his chances more and more, she was bloody good as much as he hated to admit it. Her voice carried the song easily and made it sound up to date and almost dance-y which should've sounded awful but didn't unfortunately. When she finished she was met with a wave of cheers and claps that had Louis now seriously reconsidering his chance at being winner and be eternally grateful for the change in rules.

Dermott quickly transitioned them to an ad break and and Louis was ushered to his spot on the stage, his mike was double checked by the sound guys and his hair and clothes by Caroline - it was almost time when one of the stage hands darted onto the stage with his phone in hand, he looked at him with raised eyebrows as of 'what the fuck am I meant to do with that?'

The stage hand pressed it into his hand and made a hurry up gesture with his hand; Louis looked down at his phone to find it open to a text that he hadn't seen before from a number he knew all too well.

**From - frog features - away no.**

**  
****hi baby! i'm so sorry i can't be there for you tonight! i've convinced the major to let me stream it live to the computer so i won't miss a second of it! i know you'll do amazingly and i just wanted to tell you again how proud i am of you. i miss you so much and can't wait to see you again. good luck sweetheart! i love you to the moon and back! <3 xxx**

**  
**Louis felt the heat rise in his cheeks as he handed his phone back to the stage hand with a giddy smile on his face, the boy smiled at him kindly and ran off the stage as the one minute countdown to back on air began. Louis felt confidence surge through him at the thought of his boy watching him from far away, and how much he would be blushing as the other guys no doubt teased him mercilessly as the soppy, fond smile he loved so much didn't leave his face.

The opening tones of Louis' song began and the audience that had been so loud on return from the ad break fell into a rare silence, most had never heard this song sung by anyone but a girl and were anxious to see how it turned out.

 _I don't want a lot for Christmas_  
There is just one thing I need  
I don't care about the presents  
Underneath the Christmas tree  
  
  
As Louis sang, the judges as well as the audience were stunned to silence at the raw emotion his voice carried in what had been an upbeat song - the impression was set that he was singing it to someone in particular - which in actual fact he was.

Louis focused on the song and his performance but at the back of his head he could see his boy's wide eyes and perfect smile beaming down at him from his ridiculous height and how his eyes would shine with pride as he sang just as they did when he came to see every single night of Louis' school performance of Grease.

_And everyone is singing_  
 _I hear those sleigh bells ringing_  
 _Santa, won't you bring me the one I really need?_  
 _Won't you please bring my baby to me?_

The crowd were pulled out of their silence into screaming applause as Louis' voice soared to hit almost the same notes as Mariah herself while completely making the song his own with the blatant power in his voice.

 _All I want for Christmas is you, baby_  
 _All I want for Christmas is you, baby_  
  
 As Louis began to sing the final lines to his song, a movement at the side of the stage caught his eye - it was a person. Someone way too far over to be one of the dancers behind him and way too far on stage to be a stage hand - and the fact that no-one was pulling them off the stage made him even more suspicious. However, being the 'professional' he is he kept singing until he hit the second to last line when the person moved into the spotlight and the lights illuminated a full head of curls and full army camouflage gear.

Louis broke off mid song and stared at the man who was on stage in complete disbelief, he wasn't here.

He couldn't be.

He was meant to still be away.

Louis had officially lost his mind.

 

Then the man's face split into a wide grin showing his deep dimples and letting a few tears escape his glistening eyes, he raised his arms slightly to beckon Louis to him.

Louis, who was sure he had completely gone round the bend, thought to himself  _if this is a dream, don't wake me up._

 _  
_And with that, Louis abandoned his microphone by dropping it unceremoniously on the stage floor and ran like the wind across the stage and launched himself at the man and instead of meeting thin air and then the floor; he was met with hard chest and muscley arms wrapping around him as he secured his legs around the man's waist.

Louis, being the collected and reserved boy that he was, promptly burst into tears.

The audience were a little stunned at the abrupt ending to the song and the embrace happening before them but couldn't help but be hopelessly endeared by the two clinging to each other.

"Hi baby." He said pulling on the back of Louis' shirt so he could look him in the eyes; Louis ran his hands over his shoulders and down his arms trying to re-assure himself he was actually here; his greeting was picked up by the microphone attached to Louis' shirt that neither of them realised was there and it was heard by the studio audience and by millions at home, loud and clear.

And almost every single person watching did the exact same thing in response, " _aww!"_

 _  
_Louis couldn't form a coherent sentence so resorted to opening and closing his mouth in close resemblance to a goldfish in order to express his bewilderment.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please give a very warm welcome to Lieutenant Harry Styles of First Battalion, Mercian Regiment!" Announced Dermott from the other side of the stage as he walked across to join them.

Louis was still looking up at Harry in wonder; the slightly dazed look on his face spurred Harry on to lean down and press a chaste kiss to Louis lips. He hadn't felt them in 7 months; it felt like coming home for both of them. Harry began to pull away, slightly wary of the fact that they were on national television; Louis however, seemed to have no such qualms as he realied Harry was pulling away and buried his hands in the soldier's curls and pulled his lips back to meet his own. 

Harry steadied his hands on Louis' waist and let himself be kissed, not that it was any sort of burden at all but again they were on  _national television_. He relaxed slightly as he heard the crowd erupt into cheers and applause after their collective cooing had ceased; they eventually broke apart and Louis reluctantly turned to face Dermott who was waiting patiently with a soft smile on his face. Louis didn't want to let Harry go at all but settled slightly when he kept one arm looped around his waist and kept his body pressed close to Louis' back in reassurance but Louis still entwined the hand lying on his hip with his own.

"So," Dermott began, " that was quite the greeting, huh Louis? Do you mind telling everyone who this is?"  

"This is Harry," Louis responded, aware (and not caring) that his voice was high and airy, "my Harry." 

He turned his head up slightly to meet Harry's eyes which shone with pride more than he had ever seen them before.

"Your?" Dermott pressed, Louis was vaguely aware that if he didn't define who Harry was; they could face serious backlash.

"My boyfriend," Louis said grinning as the crowd once again cheered deafeningly loud.

"Actually," Harry said from behind him making Louis break out of his hold and whirl round to face him with a mixture of confused and hurt spread across his face making Harry grin as he was glad Louis genuinely had no idea of what was going to happen next.

Harry used his freed hands to retrieve a small black box that he had hidden in one of the many pockets of his camo and slowly lowered himself to one knee, careful not to let his eyes drift from Louis'. It took Louis about three and a half seconds to realise what was going on and his own hands came up to his face to try and stifle the loud gasp that had escaped him as he clicked what was going on.

As Harry settled on one knee, Dermott angled the microphone so everyone was able to hear what he was saying.

"Louis Tomlinson, I've known you since you were 9 years old and you moved in next door to me, the first day we met you fell off your bike outside my house because you had been trying to do a wheelie and failed, miserably I might add;" Louis snorted slightly at this (as did much of the audience) and he was aware of the tears pricking the backs of his eyes; "you didn't want your mum to know you had tried to do it so you asked me if you could use one of our plasters, you then proceeded to mock me for being 11 years old and still having dinosaur plasters; still do in fact on both counts in fact."

Louis laughed out loud this time, they always bought dinosaur plasters as a running joke that only the two of them (and now the entire nation) knew about.

"It was also when you were 9 and I was 11 that I overheard your mum and my mum talking about the fact that you had a crush on a boy, I don't know if I've ever told you this but I was so jealous! I never for a moment considered it could be me until my 13th birthday party, two years later when my friends convinced us to play spin the bottle and said the bottle landed on you when I spun it even though it clearly didn't. When you admitted you liked me, I had never been so happy. And then we had our first kiss which wasn't the best in terms of kisses but to me, it was perfect. Then we drifted apart because both of us were too scared to admit what had happened to anyone but our closest friends and then you moved away without telling me; going home and finding your mum's car gone and your house empty has to have been one of the worst days of my life,  Lou.

"Then you came back," Harry smiled so wide at that one would think that everything in his life had gone right again at the point of Louis' return, "you came back and I swear to God, I loved you from the minute I set eyes on you. You were laughing at something your friend had said and your head was tipped back and your eyes all crinkled up and you just looked so damn beautiful and I think I fell for you completely there and then. When I finally got the balls to ask you out, you were more amazing than I ever could have imagined and you still are. You, literally, light up my world every time you smile at me or laugh at one of my God awful jokes and I never want to lose you. We've officially been together for 5 and a half years and I fall more and more in love with you every day so; Louis Tomlinson, would you do me the honour of becoming my husband?" 

 

As Harry finished his speech he opened the small black box to reveal a slim, gleaming white gold coloured ring with a single diamond set into hit that was glinting in the light. Louis realised with a start that it was the ring he had seen in a jeweller's in London last year when he and Harry had come down for his 18th and had fell in love with it.

"So what do you think, Lou?" Harry pushed, he was beginning to get a little antsy due to Louis' lack of answer and the fact he had just bared all (figuratively, not literally) in front of approximately 10 million people.

"Of course I will you pillock!" Louis said snapping out of his little trance and rolling his eyes slightly; he lowered his left hand from his face so Harry could take it in his gigantic one and slip the ring onto his finger - it was a perfect fit. Louis pulled Harry to his feet and into his arms; not even caring how his stage makeup was smeared due to the tears streaming down his face and now being smeared onto Harry's camo gear.

"You seen it here everyone! X Factor's first ever live proposal courtesy of Lieutenant Harry Styles and finalist Louis Tomlinson!" Dermott announced delightedly from beside the couple who were still holding onto each other for dear life. 

 

The show cut to an ad break before the winner was announced allowing Louis time to collect himself; once his makeup had been fixed and his clothes straightened back out by a congratulatory but tutting Caroline, Louis turned and whacked Harry on the arm. Hard.

"Whatdya do that for?" Harry whined rubbing the abused spot on his upper arm, it hadn't hurt  _that_ much and Louis knew it but he and Harry both knew he liked it when he indulged him.

"You told me you weren't going to be here! And you're here!" Louis said only slightly annoyed at being kept in the dark but that soon dissapated as he was pulled back into Harry's strong arms.

"I wanted to surprise you." Harry murmured quietly against Louis' lips like a child being scolded by his mother, and Louis honestly couldn't help but be hopelessly endeared by the gangly moron that he now got to call his fiance.

 _Fiance!!_ Louis squealed internally but only let his mouth quirk into a smile on the outside as Harry pressed his lips to his own again; this time however keeping it chaste aware that the audience were still there even if the cameras weren't on; he pulled back quite quickly as Louis moved to deepen the kiss.

"Save that for when we're at home, yeah honey?" Harry said in his ear so the microphone couldn't pick it up and also to see the tremble that ran through Louis as his hot breath washed over his ear.

Louis nodded frantically and kissed him once more - this time grabbing his face and kissing him hard before letting him go sit in his place next to his and Louis' mums and families as he met up with Gary to await the results.

Harry was welcomed to his seat by two mothers hurling themselves at him and pulling him into one massive hug, both of them knew he would be here and what he planned to do but didn't know about his little speech that had apparently went down quite well with everyone if the mascara stains on their mother's and sister's eyes were anything to go by.

Quick congratulations were said by all before they were ushered back into their seats as the cameras went back on and the lights dimmed dramatically.

"As you all know the lines have now been closed for almost an hour, they were closed after our acts sang their duets with an established artist and the votes were then counted and verified. And I can now reveal, that the winner of the X Factor 2013 is...

 

 

Louis Tomlinson!" 

Louis barely registered his name being announced (still floating slightly from Harry's proposal) and only realised what had happened when he looked at Dermott to find him looking at him and Gary pulled him into a hug; he was sure his face right now was one of utter disbelief and was now aware of even more tears running down his face. 

Hadn't he run out of those yet?

The crowd's reaction was the loudest yet and had reached the point of just being sheer noise with no distinguishable voices or sounds to it. Louis was swamped with the former contestants running on stage, Liam reaching him first and picking him up off the ground in a hug then the girls from Young Blood, both looking more than a little teary eyed as Louis was congratulated by all the other contestants; Chantelle looked genuinely happy for him whereas Callum looked anything but. 

Louis didn't give a damn though, through the sea of people on the stage he managed to find a gap to see the audience and found Harry who was on his feet clapping and cheering and whistling occasionally; looking just as proud of him as his mother who was standing right next to him.

 

As customary after the announcement of the winner, they showed Louis' journey through X Factor from audition singing Hey There Delilah that had him cringing terribly to Week 3 when Louis had been outed and he had sang what the papers called 'a hauntingly beautiful rendition' of Evanescence's My Immortal to his final performance so far of All I Want For Christmas Is You; it then showed interviews with his mum and his younger sisters - all of the latter insisted the didn't know why he was on the show because he can't sing, making the nation collectively chuckle at the 4 year old twins who insisted they were way more talented than their elder brother.

And finally, it cut to what was tied for this moment right now for best one of his life; the moment Harry dropped to one knee and asked him to marry him. Watching it back, it made Louis well up all over again and itch more than ever to have Harry in his arms.

He was handed the microphone once again by Dermott and could barely grasp it as he was still a little in shock.

"How you feeling, Louis?" He asked, clapping him on the shoulder as the other contestants still surrounded them in a kind of half huddle formation.

"On top of the world!" Louis answered honestly and breathlessly; from the spot that he had shuffled to, he could see Harry's grinning face easily and could barely take his eyes off him.

Louis answered a few more questions before Dermott ushered the other contestants off the stage so Louis could perform his winner's song; Louis' song that he had been given as his first single was a cover of The Calling's 'Wherever You Will Go'. Louis had been more than happy with the choice of song as it had been one of the first songs that he and Harry had ever danced to when it came on one day when they were at Harry's and ended up waltzing (badly) across the kitchen floor.

Louis was unable to keep his composure towards the very end of the song and fresh tears of happiness leaked at as he was once again surrounded by his former competitors and the judges who all congratulated him as well; the song finished and the crowd once again screamed obnoxiously loud but in a good way.

Louis was too busy being asphyxiated by the hairspray in Annie from Young Blood's hair that he didn't notice his family and fiance being helped up onto the stage until he turned around and was barreled into by two blond heads that now clung to his knees and then a third and fourth attacking him and clinging to his waist.

Louis grinned down at his little sisters who all looked so proud of him, despite their mocking in the video, he knew they were; they eventually detached themselves reluctantly to allow Louis to hug their mum who told him how proud she was of him as she held him.

"Muuuuuum, you're going to make me cry again!" Louis whined, only half kidding and received a swat about the ear for his troubles but the look on her face said she wasn't bothered by it in the slightest.

After his mum had relinquished her hold on her first born, Louis was swept into a warm hug by Harry's mother who didn't feel the need to reiterate the threat she had delivered 5 years ago about breaking her baby's heart (despite Harry being the elder of the two - Louis had sworn not to and hadn't) and made her proud feelings known.

Louis was beginning to feel like the present in Pass the Parcel as he was yanked in by Harry's elder sister Gemma, who he had confided in a great many time and had helped him through a lot especially after Harry had been deployed. 

"Knew you had it in you, Lou." Was all she said, and all he needed to know as she grinned at him with the same dimpled grin she shared with her brother.

 

Finally, Louis was thrown into the arms of the person he wanted most. 

Harry held him close and tight allowing Louis to finally breathe in the scent that had faded from the old tattered hoodie he had brought with him to the X Factor house, it was a mixture of cinnamon and tea and the fabric softener that Harry's mum had used since they were kids and that they had continued to use later in life. Harry pressed small kisses along Louis' hairline and into his hair, he didn' t need to say anything for Louis to know how proud he was of him; the sentiment was there in how his arms tightened around Louis then relaxed to stroke down his back, the way his kisses lingered on his forehead slightly and how he breathed out softly against his skin.

 

 

The rest of the night was a whirlwind of interviews and congratulatory handshakes and hugs and drinks being bought for both Louis and Harry by people they vaguely knew long after their mothers and Louis' younger siblings had gone to bed. 

 

It was well past 3 in the morning when they collapsed onto Harry's hotel bed in a slightly drunken, giggly tangle of limbs; they had both stripped down to their boxers as they entered their room and now lay sideways, facing each other with Louis' left hand entangled with Harry's much larger right which was absent mindedly playing with his new ring.

"Why tonight?" Louis asked, his voice a whisper despite there being no-one around to hear him but Harry.

"I was going to wait until New Year's Eve, after my official coming home date and after your birthday and Christmas and stuff but then we got withdrawn early and I got special permission from the Major to catch a flight with one of the Scottish regiments who were leaving a week earlier so I arranged everything with the show through your mum - who is bloody brilliant by the way - and yeah... I didn't do it wrong, did I?" Harry looked like a kicked puppy as he finished, and  _god_ Louis must be in deep for how bloody cute he found it.

"It was perfect. You're perfect." Louis reassured him; it both amused and warmed Louis that a 'big, strong' soldier needed reassurance from his smaller and slighter partner.

"I meant it you know, I love you and I fall more and more in love with you every day." Harry said, his speech beginning to slur slightly.

 _That'll be those tequila slammers catching up with him then_ Louis thought, giggling to himself.

"And I love you too, you loon. Wouldn't have said yes if I didn't." Louis smiled, bumping his forehead against Harry's softly.

"I love you so much Lou." 

 _ok, definitely the tequila_ Louis confirmed as Harry's head lolled slightly and his words meshed together.

"Love you too babe, now go to sleep yeah?" Louis said pushing Harry's shoulder lightly so he flopped onto his back and Louis could curl into his muscly chest (which they both knew he loved doing but never talked about).

"Can we have sex in the morning, Lou? I think we were gonna have it tonight but I'm kinda drunk and I don't wanna be shit for our first time." Harry mumbled into Louis hair that had been combed free of the majority of the hairspray that had kept it incarcerated during the show.

"Our first time? What  _are_ you on about? We had our first time when I was 16, dipshit." Louis asked in disbelief turning slightly and propping his chin up on Harry's chest so he could look him in the eyes.

"Not  _that_ first time, Lou. Our first time as an engaged couple." Harry said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it would've been if he had said it a bit better; however the statement still sent more butterflies than normal through Louis' stomach when Harry said something hopelessly endearing.

"Ok H; we'll do that in the morning yeah? Just go to sleep just now." Louis agreed letting his head fall back down onto Harry's chest and shuffling to get himself comfortable as Harry's arm came up almost instinctively to hold him there.

"Night Lou, love you." Harry giggled.

 _Giggled,_ Louis smiled to himself as Harry's breathing evened out,  _big, strong soldier my arse._

"Night Haz, love you too; you dozy git." Louis said fondly knowing full well Harry was already well asleep and couldn't hear him; he smiled down at his hand and it's new addition as it settled on Harry's chest.

Louis fell asleep with a huge smile on his face and one last thought of -  _all I want for Christmas indeed, even if it is a week early._

 

 

 

 

And woke up to an even bigger smile and better thoughts due to the fact Harry's lips were wrapped around his cock.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sorry i was listening to All I Want For Christmas at work and this came about.
> 
> my apologies for any mistakes, this is unchecked.
> 
> feel free to let me know about any mistakes or tell me how crap this is on here or on my tumblr
> 
> stylesbelongstotomlinson.tumblr.com
> 
> but it is currently 4.45am and i need sleep, i will fix the mistakes in the morning.


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